re: How many big game animals have you shot that were never recovered.

I failed to recover 2 deer, both does. Both were shot w/ a 6.5 cal T/C Contender at 100-125 yds. Both were victims to what I think happened to Dayne O: hit high in the chest area resulting in temporary paralysis, but not a fatal shot as both deer shortly got up and ran off. One I trailed a mile or so through mesquite trees and saw a palm sized patch of blood very high on the offside shoulder. The first deer moved as I shot. The second deer was the victim of a change in my scope's point of impact: I went to NM on a mule deer hunt one week earlier w/ the gun sighted in 3" high at 100 yds; when I shot the gun after wounding the deer it was hitting 8" high at 100. Never had any indication that either deer died.